Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane (CHRIS KNIGHT, SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)

Angela CouloumbisOf The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

Kane said she was acting in the interest of transparency. Read why.

PHILADELPHIA — As she prepared to testify before a grand jury investigating improper leaks to the media, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane acknowledged Monday that her office had released information but said it broke no laws.

"I will tell the special prosecutor the truth and the facts surrounding the disclosure of information to the public that was done in a way that did not violate statutory or case law regarding grand jury secrecy," Kane said, reading a prepared statement.

She spoke as she walked into an office building outside of Norristown where a grand jury is examining whether Kane or her office improperly released sealed grand jury information to embarrass a political foe.

Kane called her grand jury appearance "the worst-kept secret of Pennsylvania."

Accompanied by two high-profile attorneys — New York criminal defense lawyer Gerald Shargel and former White House aide Lanny Davis — Kane declined to elaborate on her statement or take questions.

Davis, a former counsel to former President Bill Clinton, said Kane did not intend to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer questions.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that special prosecutor Thomas Carluccio is examining whether Kane's office leaked secret information to the Philadelphia Daily News about a 2009 investigation, handled by Kane's Republican predecessors, into the finances of former Philadelphia NAACP head J. Whyatt Mondesire.

The Daily News reported that Kane's office was trying to determine why the 2009 investigation did not result in any charges.

The Mondesire inquiry was headed by Frank G. Fina, a former top prosecutor in the office who now works for Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. Kane and Fina have been locked in an increasingly public and bitter battle over how cases were handled.

Davis said the leak "was done with [Kane's] knowledge," adding: "But it was not, under the law, grand jury information."

In her statement, Kane suggested she was acting in the interest of transparency.

"Despite my present situation that restricts my ability to answer your questions, I remain committed to the central theme of my campaign — transparency in government," Kane said. "The public has a right to know what public officials are doing or not doing with taxpayer dollars and whether they are doing their jobs properly or attempting to investigate or prosecute possible criminal conduct."

Her lawyers said her statement was carefully worded because she is constrained from speaking openly about the matter. They would not elaborate.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that last summer, Fina obtained a ruling from the Montgomery County judge overseeing the leak investigation, and that the ruling barred Kane from citing Fina's name publicly in almost any fashion, according to several sources familiar with it.

Kane on Monday did not reference the ruling, but said certain "court orders expose me to legal risk if I do my job as attorney general that I was elected and trusted by the people of Pennsylvania to do."

It is the third time that Kane, a Democrat, has been asked to appear, under subpoena, before a special prosecutor in Montgomery County, sources have told The Philadelphia Inquirer. The last time she was scheduled to testify — Oct. 21 — she got into a car accident just hours before, and canceled her appearance.

Last week, Kane's office said she's still suffering lingering effects from the accident, including intensifying neck and back pain and headaches and nausea from a concussion.

She has been working from her Lackawanna County home since the accident.

The office said Kane's doctors told her she could return to work next week, "as tolerable," raising the question of whether she would travel to Montgomery County on Tuesday.